UK: Taiwan's de facto ambassador in London was given a "special invitation" to sign a book of condolences for Britain's Queen Elizabeth, who said she was treated like other dignitaries, according to the island's foreign ministry went.
The United Kingdom, like most other countries, has no diplomatic relations with mainland China-claims Taiwan, although they have close informal ties. Due to Beijing's objections, democratically governed Taiwan has been barred from most international events and bodies.
Taiwan's foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday that its representative in London, Kelly Hsieh, was "specially invited" by the British government to sign the condolence book at Lancaster House, which is operated by the country's Foreign Office. .
According to the statement, the invitation was extended "due to the importance attached to Taiwan-UK relations and the priceless friendship between the two peoples".
According to the ministry, Hsieh "received the same treatment as other heads of state, representatives and members of the royal family who have come to the UK to mourn."
China will send Vice President Wang Qishan to Monday's state funeral in London, but some lawmakers are concerned about inviting Chinese delegates as several British lawmakers have been cleared for criticizing Beijing's alleged human rights violations in Xinjiang Went. China denies any such violations.
Taiwan's government was quick to mourn the Queen's death, and Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu visited Britain's de facto embassy in Taipei on Thursday to sign the public condolence book.
Taiwan's British Representative Office posted a photo on Facebook last week showing Queen Elizabeth receiving a Taiwanese orchid named after her at the 2011 Chelsea Flower Show.
Taiwan has not said whether it will be allowed to send anyone to the state funeral, which is being attended by several world leaders, including US President Joe Biden.
A representative from North Korea has been invited to attend the funeral, but Afghanistan, Syria and Venezuela have not been invited, according to a Foreign Office source on Wednesday. Russia, Myanmar and Belarus have also been invited but they have declined.
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